Back in my day (geez, do I sound old), when I was first producing (no, dinosaurs didn't walk the earth), I used to receive voice over auditions on cassette tapes. The talent agent would send out the call for my audition, and folks like you would file into the agent's office to record on a crusty, crackly sounding boom box in a closet. You'd get three, maybe four takes, and your agent would edit the best two onto the cassette for me.

It's way different today, thanks to digital technology. Today, I get audition files emailed to me, or I listen on a special, locked, "clients" section of a talent agency's web site. And while you can still troop into most agencies and record your audition on the crusty, crackly boom box, more and more agents are encouraging their talent to record auditions on their own and email them in.

That leaves you with two options if crusty, crackly isn't the quality statement you want to make. You can record your auditions in a professional studio. That'll sound a kajillion times better than the boom box, but it can get mucho expensive. Especially if you get lots of auditions. And you want to get lots of auditions.

The other option is to record at home. Just about everyone has a computer, and nearly every newer computer comes with some sort of microphone and recording software. Most voice artists today choose to record their auditions this way.

But few of them realize that there are tips and tricks that any voice over artist can use to bump up the quality of his or her home audio recordings. Most have never even considered the fact that a clean, crisp recording can provide a subtle but powerful edge over carelessly recorded auditions.

Mic placement, "deadening" a room and listening for "bleed" are all techniques that are used in the world's best recording facilities every day. Yet they're all techniques that you can easily employ in your own home studio when you record your auditions.

Thus, Audio Ninja Extraordinaire David Conner has written an ebook called "Auditioning from Home." In it he offers a plethora of advice on improving the quality of your home audio. And he does it in a straightforward way, so you don't have to be a professional engineer to understand it.

Sure, you'll eventually want to make some investments in your home audition rig when those paid gigs start rolling in, and David offers equipment recommendations for when that time comes. But rest assured that he also offers plenty of valuable tips and techniques that cost little to nothing.